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Gift
Gifts are supernatural abilities. Gifts include =Bardic Gift= Bardic Magic in Velgarth seems to be related to other Gifts, especially Empathy. The use of Bardic Gift is usually embedded in performing music. "Talented" Bards, those with the Gift as opposed to extremely talented musicians, can influence people's emotions or behavior with their music; letting them experience the song. =Earth Sensing= A rare form of additional perception, Earthsense is the ability that allows one to "see" or "feel" the condition of the land around him. Examples of this are Herald-Prince Darenthalis (By The Sword), King Tremane (Storm Breaking), and Firesong K'Treva (Mage Winds and Mage Storms trilogies). Traditionally, the monarch of Hardorn is required to possess Earthsense in potential, which can then be awakened by ritual. Also, all Tayledras Healer-Mage Adepts have Earthsense, which allows them to sense hurts in the land and use their mage gifts to help heal them. =Empathy= As the name implies, Empathy is the Gift that allows it's user the limited ability to detect, and sometimes influence, the emotions of others. Powerful cases of Empathy can lead to other powers able to use; the ability to link with a FarSeer to find some location that had a strong emotion present, for instance. Those with Empathy often become MindHealers, and help to restore mental stability to patients whereas normal Healers only Heal their body. The only known case of Empathy among the Heralds are Herald Talia (current Monarch's Own Herald) and Herald Shandi. Other cases of Empathy are present in other cultures, such as the Hawkbrothers and the Kale'a'din. =Farsight= The ability to see things that are far away as if they were close. =Fetching= The Gift of Fetching allows people to teleport small objects. The amount of energy required is directly proportional to the size of the object. =Firestarting= Firestarting is the Valdemaran term for pyrokinisis. This Gift usually manifests itself about once in a generation, and it's users are generally feared, as the Firestarter Lavan Firestorm single-handedly wiped out a Karsite army. =Foresight= The ability of Foresight allows those who possess it access to visions of future events. The length and relevance of these visions vary from person to person, sometimes giving visions of things minutes ahead, and sometimes years. Herald Alberich has been noted as experiencing a "flash of blue" before his visions. =Healing= Healers use "healing energy" on a small scale to "encourage a person's body to do quickly what it would do anyway." For the recipient, this results in the near-instantaneous healing of minor injuries. Major injuries, such as those received by Queen's Own Herald Talia (Arrow's Fall), may take months of Healing sessions, depending on the power of the Healer. Healing energy can repair damages due to injury or illness, but cannot replace a missing limb or reverse birth defects. Healing energy only speeds natural recovery. Scarring may be reduced by the use of magical Healing but not eliminated. Mind Healing Mind-Healing focuses on the maladies of the mind and emotions, rather than the physical well-being of the patient. A variety of feats are possible with Mind Healing including extraction of and implantation of memories (as performed by Healer Crathach in Exile's Honor), though this presents potential moral dilemmas for some Healers. Healers with Mind Healing gifts often specialize in psychology as well. =Mage Gift= Mage-Gift utilizes a type of life-energy to produce various effects comparable to magic, such as teleportation, lightning manipulation, and the ability to create shields. Skilled mages can draw upon lines of power known as ley-lines, and those that are even more skilled can draw upon Nodes, or reservoirs of power. Blood Magic A taboo form of magic that allows the practitioner to gain power by causing pain and death. Unlike the others in the list, this is a source of power, as opposed to a technique or school. The power can be channeled through the other forms of magic. Typically the users are evil, but there are exceptions. For example, Shin'a'in shamans have been known to commit self-sacrifice for the good of their clans (Mage Winds trilogy). It could also be argued that the "last ditch" method of taking out an enemy by magic known as Final Strike is a form of Blood Magic. To use Final Strike, the caster suicides using all their power and the power of their own blood magic to attack their enemy; not even the highest Adepts can survive Final Strike and there is normally no trace of the caster left, apart from a pile of ash. Herald-Mage Vanyel in Magic's Price calls down Final Strike on Leareth. Notable Blood Mages in the series include Leareth (Magic's Price), King Ancar of Hardorn, and Mornelith Falconsbane(Mage Winds trilogy). =Mindspeech= Mindspeech allows those who possess it (and the companion Gift of Thought-sensing) to send words and images to each other silently and across long distances. Companions, Kyree and Firecats also use this. Animal Mindspeech The ability to mindspeak animals.